Cat & Mouse
by Lyta Padfoot
Summary: When the crackdown follows a darker path no one will emerge unscathed. Major character death.
1. The Crackdown

Author's Note: this is part of a series originally published a few years ago on the Philosophy Sphere. It is Alternate Universe and major character death and angst lie within. If you are interested in the rest of my EFC writings go to where I keep them penned.  
  
"Cat & Mouse"  
Chapter One: The Crackdown  
  
Liam Kincaid led Jonathan Doors into a little-used back room of the Flat Planet Café. With the curfew in place, the cyber cafe was uncharacteristically deserted, but Liam lived above the bar and thus had a key to the back door. It would be dangerous for them to remain here long, but both he and Doors needed to catch their breathes and wait out the last few hours of the curfew until Doors could be moved to a nearby Resistance safe house.  
  
"Who do you think attacked us?" Doors asked suddenly, shifting into what Liam had always privately thought of as 'Liberation Leader mode'. He seemed odd to Liam in his tan jacket and rumpled plaid shirt. Then again the young hybrid had previously only seen him in upscale suits.  
  
"I don't know exactly," Liam answered, running a hand through his dark hair. "His implants looked an awful lot like the ones Augur sported a while ago."  
  
"Speaking of Augur, I hope he and Julia got away."  
  
"Me too," Liam seconded. He checked his gun, and it came as no surprise that he was almost out of ammunition. Then they were both startled by the sudden chirp of Liam's global.  
  
It was Lili, but Liam couldn't see much of her location, it was simply too dark.  
  
"Lili, where are you?" Liam exclaimed, relieved to see her alive and well.  
  
"I'm on a cloaked Jaridian ship." Lili informed him and tilted the global to give him a better view. "I'd hoped to find some usable information or devices, but everything here aside from the cloak device has a Taelon counterpart we've already seen."  
  
"Can you salvage it?" Doors queried, leaning in so Lili could see him.  
  
If Lili was surprised to hear from Doors, she did not show it. "If I remove the cloak then the Mothership will discover the ship. As soon as I get out of range from the moonbase and the Mothership, I'm taking the cloak device and hightailing it out of here. With luck, no one will notice my departure and the Taelons will be so focused on the Jaridian ship, they'll divert resources from the strike teams looking for Resistance."  
  
"How bad is it?" Liam asked slowly. "We haven't had much news."  
  
Lili maintained the composure drilled into her in the Marines as she spoke. "Augur and Julia have been captured. They are being held on the Mothership. The prisoners will be forced to talk sooner or later Liam, and when they do. we will all need to be ready to go underground." Lili took a deep breathe before continuing. "We've lost over thirty percent of our cells from what I've been able to find out from Sandoval. Our one saving grace is that they underestimated the size of our group, but Sandoval will catch on once he starts identifying and breaking the cell leaders. The European Resistance got wind of our situation and is scattering, the Taelons are focusing on the American movement. We're the largest and the most well known, thanks to Jonathan's notoriety, and if they can break us it will send a powerful message to the groups in other areas."  
  
Doors frowned. "Unfortunately the Taelons are right, we depend on the other movements for equipment and intelligence, but we are too centralized. Were you able to warn any of our people? Liam and I have been too busy playing tag with Volunteer patrols."  
  
Lili nodded. "I contacted Halley right after Thompson's speech. Last I heard they haven't got any of her people, but enough who have been caught in other cells can ID them, so they've fallen back to their secondary base. Only a select few know its location. What is your status?"  
  
"Liam, Augur, Julia and I were ambushed. The Volunteers managed to split us up and Liam and I lost track of Augur and Julia. We are safe for the moment, but will move on as soon as we can. With the curfew in effect its too dangerous to move about, especially with as recognizable a face as I have." Doors told her. "There is also no way to know if anyone identified Liam, so using his position to get us through won't work."  
  
"Be careful. I'm passing over the dark side of the moon and the transmission won't be able to reach you soon." Lili told them.  
  
Liam nodded. "I understand. See you soon."  
  
"Just in case I don't get the chance to tell you this later, its been an honor serving with you both. Make sure I do get the chance to tell you that in person. Take care of yourselves - both of you."  
  
"We will." Doors assured her before Lili's image dissolved into the global logo.  
  
Liam shut off his global and leaned against the wall, then turned to face Doors with a strange expression on his face. "We both know a lot about the Liberation. Too much for safety. Any ideas on if we are caught and interrogated?"  
  
Doors smiled coldly. "Belman told me that Taelons use a specific chemical in their interrogations. to soften people up. I have had a small device implanted in my body, and if that chemical is ever introduced into my bloodstream, the device will release another chemical agent that will react fatally with the first. You?"  
  
"Very few know my true nature. Not even Mitch or Julia. I'll use my shaquarava."  
  
"What if something prevents you from doing that, the Kimeran equivalent of a failsafe to prevent you from injuring yourself?" Doors asked seriously. He adjusted the bottom of his jacket and settled into a chair. The older man looked at the door toward the bar longingly, but knew he had to keep his mind clear.  
  
"Then I'll flash my shaquarava around a few Volunteers with skrills. As far as they know, only Jaridians have active shaquarava." Liam reminded him. He stared down at the faint reddish marks on his palms.  
  
The two men stood in silence for several moments, considering the seriousness of their circumstances and wondering if they would in fact be compelled to implement their respective last resort measures. Then both jumped at the sound of approaching footsteps. Liam readied his gun and quietly moved into the hall, using a corner to conceal his presence as he tried to glimpse the identity of their visitor or visitors. Without warning, Liam found himself shoved up against a wall and pinned there by his wrists. His weapon clattered uselessly to the ground. Liam was too surprised to use his shaquarava before a Volunteer skrilled him into unconsciousness a moment later.  
  
* * *  
  
Da'an had been somewhat startled to be arrested by a very subdued Agent Sandoval and escorted to a holding cell by two Volunteers until he saw his protector lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. Even before the virtual glass barrier that enclosed the cell was activated, Da'an knelt beside Liam and after a few moments he was able to revive him.  
  
Liam's green eyes blinked rapidly as he mentally reconciled his current circumstances with recent events.  
  
"Da'an?" He questioned. "What's going on?"  
  
"That, Major Kincaid, is what I would like to know." Zo'or said from behind them. He was accompanied by the same skrill wielding man who earlier had tossed Liam against a wall as though he weighed nothing.  
  
The Synod leader deactivated the virtual glass barrier and walked over to Da'an. Taking advantage of the Volunteer's focus on the Taelons, Liam hit him with a small shaquarava blasts. The man fell back against the wall before slumping quietly to the floor.  
  
Zo'or was speechless. He stared at Liam's glowing palms with shock and undisguised shock and terror.  
  
Liam motioned for Da'an to get out of the cell before he sent a small energy burst that knocked Zo'or out, he instantly reverted to his true form. Liam then reactivated the virtual glass barrier.  
  
It was relatively easy to free several of the prisoners, including Julia, Doors and Augur, and to relieve a few guards of their weapons. Almost too easy, Liam thought as he watched Julia check out a rifle she had appropriated from one of the Volunteers who had been guarding her Resistance cell. They were almost to the shuttles when alarms began to blare all around them.  
  
Liam caught sight of Sandoval and two heavily armed Volunteers approaching. He grabbed Julia by the arm. "Get the others to the shuttles. Both Da'an and Augur can fly one. I'm sure it has a homing device, so ditch it as soon as you can. Understand?"  
  
Julia nodded and gestured for the rest of the group to follow her. Before they disappeared around a corner, Julia turned back and shot Liam a questioning glance. He motioned for her to keep going.  
  
Liam prepared himself to make as big a diversion as he could. As Sandoval raised his skrill into firing position, Liam activated his shaquarava and held up his glowing palms.  
  
The look on his human father's face was absolutely priceless.  
  
Sandoval motioned for the two Volunteers to back off. They stood there facing each other for a tension filled few seconds before the Mothership unexpectedly rocked. The cloaked Jaridian ship, Liam thought even as Sandoval and one of the Volunteers took advantage of the situation and fired. Sandoval's blast hit Liam in the chest sending him against the wall. The Volunteer's blast scorched part of the wall near his previous position.  
  
Still dazed from the blast, Liam winced and fired. The energy flung Sandoval and the two Volunteers against the wall. Liam limped forward and picked up Sandoval's global. He had to know that Lili was not on the Jaridian vessel when it collided with the Mothership. She was surprised to see him, and was quick to assure Liam that she was indeed safe on Earth. Liam replaced Sandoval's global and started toward the shuttle bay.  
  
He collapsed suddenly as another Volunteer arrived on the scene and fired her skrill directly at him.  
  
* * *  
  
Liam woke up groggily. He really hated coming to in prison cells and was worried that he was beginning to make a habit of it. He groaned inwardly when he turned his head to see Sandoval and a very annoyed Zo'or standing safely on the other side of a virtual glass barrier.  
  
"It would appear that your deceptions run far deeper than I had previously imagined." The Synod leader said with a smirk.  
  
"Why don't you come in here and we can discuss it up close and personal." Liam said sarcastically. He rose from his position sprawled out on the floor to stand, but a wave of nausea made him compromise and sit up. He rubbed the back of his head which was throbbing.  
  
"And allow you the opportunity to use your shaquarava on me again? I think not." Zo'or said.  
  
"I believe," Sandoval said, inserting himself into the conversation. "That the real question is who are you. Kincaid cannot be your real name"  
  
"Its as good as any." He replied with a shrug.  
  
"Who are you?" Sandoval demanded, more forcefully this time.  
  
"My, how Vorlon," Liam quipped. He knew Sandoval had seen enough science fiction shows to comprehend the reference.  
  
"This is not a game."  
  
"No," Liam said seriously. "It is not a game." He smirked as he prepared to lay out his trump card. He had nothing to loose this time, they were probably rechecking his DNA as they spoke. Liam straightened himself to his full height, shrugging off the dizziness this caused, and looked Sandoval directly in the eye. This was going to be good. "Last year, Ha'gel took your form, correct?"  
  
"Yes," Sandoval said cautiously.  
  
"Ha'gel encountered Lt. Beckett and joined with her while in your form. A resistance member dragged her away from the scene and I was born nine hours later. My mother's memories were repressed via her CVI and she was left when she would be found. It was discovered by the Resistance that I have three parents: Ha'gel, my mother, and you. Don't expect a Father's Day card this year... dad."  
  
Sandoval paled and Zo'or lost control of his human facade in his shock at Liam's revelation. The Taelon's gaze darted back and forth between the two trying to see any physical resemblance between the two men. Not really finding any, he returned his focus to Liam.  
  
"May, may I be excused Zo'or." Sandoval managed to say after several minutes of working his jaw back and forth in a futile attempt to form coherent words.  
  
Zo'or nodded, and Sandoval all but fled the room. He hurried to the shuttle bay. He needed to distance himself from this whole situation. He wished he could still get drunk.  
  
The Synod leader glared at Liam after his remaining human parent left. Then his lips curved into a smirk that sent chills down Liam's spine.  
  
* * *  
  
Even after three months, it was still difficult for Ronald Sandoval to believe that Liam was in any way his son. After all, Sandoval was not old enough to have a child of Liam's apparent age. Still, as the tired cliché his mother had often reminded him of went, appearances deceive.  
  
The motivational imperative on his CVI had deteriorated months ago, leaving him with the blessing/curse of the ability to think for himself. Many of the hours he should have spent sleeping were consumed by tremendous guilt. He was doomed to remember the faces of those he hurt as though it happened only hours ago. One thing Sandoval felt the most guilt over was Liam's fate. He was sickened by what Zo'or had done to the young hybrid, his son and Siobhan's.  
  
The CVI the Taelons had specifically engineered for Liam dampened almost all traces of his previous personality. According to Ka'na, the scientist who oversaw his implantation, Liam's CVI was a variation on an experimental model with a longer life span that had been modified for Liam's unique brain chemistry. According to Ka'na, implants became "used" to the MI and their brains eventually found ways around it, particularly after the trauma of re-implantation. Sandoval thanked everything he held holy that no one considered implanting him with one of the new cyber viral implants.  
  
The most visible change in Liam was his style of dress. After his implantation, Liam had abandoned his usual turtlenecks and black leather coat for dark three piece suits not unlike the ones Sandoval himself wore. Those outfits, combined with the intense expression on his face, gave Liam a severe look absent only a few months ago. Sandoval was startled to realize that Liam scared him now.  
  
Liam noticed Sandoval's stare and he met his gaze briefly, Sandoval again noticed the lack of emotion in his son's green eyes. They were as hard as green stones now. He also wondered how he had failed to notice that Liam and Siobhan shared the same eyes.  
  
The FBI agent wished he could say something to his son, but the MI would compel Liam to report any behavior unusual for a Companion Agent to Zo'or. Attracting that kind of attention would result in even more unpleasantness than he already had to endure. Sandoval sighed in frustration and wondered if this was the universe's way of exacting revenge for all those he had harmed while under the influence of the motivational imperative.  
  
to be continued. 


	2. Face of an Enemy, the Face of a Friend

Chapter Two: The Face of an Enemy, The Face of a Friend  
Ronald Sandoval waited with Liam Kincaid as the Jaridian probe approached. As soon as it came within range, Kincaid hit it with double shaquarava blast while Sandoval fired his skrill. Their combined firepower caused the probe to explode into a collection of small and broken pieces.  
Kincaid surveyed the wreckage dispassionately for a moment before pulling out his global to inform Zo'or of their success. Predictably, the Synod leader was pleased at the destruction of more Jaridian technology.  
"Zo'or wishes us to return to the Mothership." Liam informed him dispassionately, returning the global to its usual place at his belt and walking toward their shuttle. Sandoval soon followed. Neither protector was aware they were being observed. * * *  
The video feed from Julia's global was displayed at the makeshift new Resistance headquarters. Currently only Augur and Da'an were present. Doors was busy making contact with other surviving cells and Lili was at a lab helping Resistance scientists develop their own brand of Taelon shuttle.  
Da'an was deeply troubled by the hard expression on Liam's young face. Even Sandoval displayed unease around Liam. The former North American Companion suspected it was the FBI agent who was their mysterious new source. Thanks to that well-placed source, they all knew what had been done to the former resistance leader and the outrage surviving Liberation members felt at Liam's fate easily overwhelmed the deception regarding his heritage.  
Dr. Belman and Dr. Park were putting their enforced time underground to a good use: perfecting a way to remove a CVI completely without damaging their capabilities or causing the patient's death. In the months since the Taelon purge of Resistance members, the implantation of partial CVI's into unsuspecting people had increased threefold.  
All in all, it was a bad time to be a freedom fighter. * * *  
Liam walked to his room on the Mothership after making his report to Zo'or. He shucked his shoes and tie as soon as he closed the door. After a shower, he changed into sleepwear and lay down on the bed to reflect before going to sleep.  
In his dreams, the Liam could not escape his true self. Every time he tried to stop himself, the MI hit him like an impenetrable wall. He was thankful, however that this only occurred at night. He could blot out his dreams during the day; they were an unnecessary distraction.  
When he awoke, he went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. He was surprised at how much older he looked. He shrugged the though off and pulled a white shirt, black pants and jacket on. The choice of an appropriate tie took him a moment. Time to go see how he could serve the Synod leader today.  
When he reported to Zo'or, the Synod leader gave his new implant a strange proprietary smirk. Ever since the revelations about his past, Zo'or had been keeping Liam close. After all Kincaid was the only one proven to be able to eliminate a replicant.  
The bridge crew, however, was unnerved by the sudden change in Liam. Kincaid had been one of the more popular Companion Protectors, now the gossip went that ice cubes could be stacked on his head and not melt. Sandoval was positively warm and fuzzy in comparison.  
"I have an assignment for you." Zo'or told Liam.  
"What is it Zo'or." Liam asked, straightening.  
Zo'or studied him for a few seconds. "Tell me, can you access the Taelon Commonality?" "Yes."  
Zo'or was pleased. "Excellent, you will use your connection to the Commonality to ferret out Da'an. Once you've found him... dispose of him."  
"Of course Zo'or." Liam saluted and left the bridge heading for the shuttle bay. He absently began to rub his palms together to quell the familiar tingle of his shaquarava. Once on Earth, Liam sat in the shuttle and gentry eased his connection to the Commonality open.  
A minute later his eyes flew open and he smiled coldly. Zo'or would be most pleased. * * *  
Da'an suddenly jerked in his chair, causing Augur to jump as well.  
"What is it?" He asked as a thousand scenarios, all of them unpleasant flitted through his mind.  
"Liam..." Da'an whispered.  
Augur winced, that name was that of the number one unpleasant possibility. He fingered the Taelon puzzle he and Lili had given Liam when he was small. He did not want to face an implanted Liam Kincaid if it could be helped. * * *  
Lili noticed Augur and Da'an's forlorn faces as soon as she set foot in the temporary Resistance hideout.  
"Lili, good, I was trying to call you." Augur began, glancing worriedly at his Taelon companion.  
"I turned my global off." Lili explained. She was about to ask what was wrong, but Da'an chose that moment to begin speaking.  
"There has been an unfortunate development." Da'an said carefully. Lili noticed that he was moving his hands in a gesture she had come to associate with tension and stress. Her level of concern was elevated two notches.  
"What kind of development?" Lili asked. She had suspicions, but only one would strike as deep as to cause the depth of hurt in her friend's eyes. The suspicion began to crystallize when she saw Augur looking at the puzzle Liam had completed when he was not even a day old. Now it sat on top of his computer.  
"Try thinking of our friend with the night-light hands." Augur said, remembering the time he had walked in on Liam trying to kill himself.  
"But how?" Lili wondered aloud, back tracking in her mind for any possible security breaches. She came up blank.  
"I am afraid that I am to blame." Da'an informed them sadly. "My connection to the Commonality has allowed Liam to significantly narrow the search perimeters."  
"Da'an, is there any way for you to reduce your connection so Liam cannot find you without your reverting to an Atavus. After the debacle with Bel'ie I don't think we'll find anyone to..."  
"I could enter a state of Samhaad." The Taelon suggested.  
"Samhaad?" Augur asked curiously.  
"A Taelon state similar in many ways to unconsciousness, though they are hardly the same thing." Lili explained as she recalled the incident where the Taelons were forced to enter Samhaad to reduce their energy so that they would not be as vulnerable to the insects.  
"How long can you maintain that state?" Augur asked.  
"Long enough." Da'an replied. * * *  
Sandoval sprinted over to where Liam sat staring at a computer screen. The Implant stood there for a long moment, trying to determine how to get the hybrid Implant's attention when Liam stiffened and blanched suddenly. He stared at Sandoval, who immediately straightened himself and wiped all trace of concern from his expression. The agent had the unnerving impression that his son was not seeing him at all.  
"A storeowner saw a woman who might have been Marquette, but he was not completely sure." Sandoval reported. When he noticed with no small amount of alarm that Liam was not paying the slightest bit of attention to him. Now he felt that he could ask if anything was wrong without having his question be reported to the Synod leader as evidence that his Motivational Imperative was no longer functional. "Is something the matter, Major?"  
"Da'an..." Liam began. "I cannot find him in the Commonality anymore, just the faintest whisper of his connection." He snapped out of the trance- like state and glared at his surviving Human parent.  
"I'll contact Zo'or." Sandoval said, feeling chilled. * * *  
Liam strained his psychic senses, using his connection to the Commonality to search for traces of Da'an, but he found little more than echoes. He was relieved that even Zo'or could find no more than a whisper of the renegade Taelon's link. It would not do to disappoint the Synod leader. Liam glanced over at Agent Sandoval, his Human father, and watched him nod at the image on his global before closing it and looking up at his son.  
"Is something the matter, Major?" Sandoval inquired, keeping his tone matter-of-fact.  
"I was just considering the possibility that Da'an has entered a state of Samhaad. That would reduce his connection to the Commonality, thus making it difficult for us to locate him." Liam replied promptly.  
"But that would only occur to Da'an if he knew that either you or a Taelon were on Earth actively searching for him."  
Kincaid shrugged. "There are two possibilities. Da'an tutored me in masking my Kimeran heritage from the Synod. He is thus more sensitive to my presence than any other Taelon and is adept at reading even minute changes when I access the Commonality."  
"And the other?"  
"Someone affiliated with the Resistance recognized us and warned Da'an."  
"How long can he maintain Samhaad." Sandoval asked, his CVI bringing up images of the only time he had seen Taelons in that state.  
"A few weeks at most." Kincaid frowned. "It will be easier to attempt to track Marquette or the other members of the Resistance command."  
Marquette, Sandoval thought. It was yet another example of the change that CVI had wrought over Liam. Once she was always Lili to him. "Possibly. We do have a lead, but it is already cold." * * *  
Both Lili and Augur found Da'an's Samhaad state creepy, so did the rest of the Resistance, but they kept their opinions to themselves.  
"Hey, think if we just press a button then he'll snap out of that like an alien sleeping beauty?" Julia asked.  
Lili shook her head in exasperation.  
"Just trying to lighten the mood a little," Julia explained.  
"It isn't working, not in the slightest." Augur told her. 


	3. Currents Turn Awry

Chapter Three: Currents Turn Awry  
  
For Da'an, the return to awareness of the physical world around him came in stages. He had always found leaving the state of Samhaad after prolonged use to be a strange experience. Upon regaining his vision, Da'an noticed the dull gray and brown room where he had been laid out on a narrow metal cot. Through a small barred, window he could see a leaden sky. When he stood to look out at the landscape, he was pleased to recognize it as being the rolling terrain of the American Midwest, most likely Kansas or Oklahoma.  
  
Behind him the door opened, its worn hinges creaking softly. Da'an found himself faced with Lili Marquette, but found her appearance quite different that he had been accustomed to seeing. The former Marine Captain and shuttle pilot wore faded denim jeans, a loose flanel shirt, and had lightened her hair. Da'an also noticed the thinly rimmed black glasses on her face.  
  
"Is there a difficuly with your eyes?" Da'an inquired politely.  
  
Lili chuckled and pulled off the glasses, handing them over to him. Da'an now saw that the lenses were perfectly clear.  
  
"They make my appearance harder to notice. People remember the glasses easier than the face behind them." Lili said by way of explanation.  
  
Da'an nodded, the concept of altering someone's physical appearance to conceal their identity was strange to him, but he had come to accept it.  
  
* * *  
  
After exiting his shuttle, Liam Kincaid rubbed the back of his neck. He had slept awkwardly the night before and could not seem to get rid of the crick that had developed as a result.  
  
The shuttle was parked in a warehouse rented for the sole purpose of concealing it. After the last failed attempt to locate Da'an, he had voiced concerns about Sandoval's effectiveness to Zo'or. There was a leak somewhere, Liam knew, but identifying the source would take time. Thus when Liam discovered and reported Da'an's whereabouts, Zo'or ordered him to go alone. No risk of the traitor tipping off his quarry now.  
  
Kincaid cautiously approached the house where his information told him that Da'an, Augur, and Marquette were hiding. He was careful to conceal his presence in the Commonality, that could very easily alert Da'an again. It took little effort for him to pick the lock on the front door and slide quietly inside. With a slight mental shift, his shaquarava began to glow brightly.  
  
* * *  
  
Da'an and Lili heard movement above, too sporadic and cautious to be Augur or another Resistance member, getting steadily closer to the basement stairs. Lili started to reach for her gun, but before she could complete the motion she saw Liam standing at the foot of the stairs, his hands aimed at her and Da'an. His shaquarava were active.  
  
Then he crumpled to the ground, half rolling down the stairs before coming to land in a heap by their feet.  
  
Lili and Da'an looked up simultaneously, twin expressions of shock on their faces, to see Augur standing where Liam had been a moment ago holding a pistol with the wrong end pointing away from him in his hands. He put the gun away and walked down the stairs to help Da'an check Liam over for injuries while Lili got a pair of magnetic handcuffs and securely restrained his hands behind his back.  
  
Da'an gently brushed Liam's hair away from his eyes, noting how it was only now when he slumbered that he appeared as the young man Da'an and the others had grown to care about.  
  
"Is there anyway we can reach the real Liam, somehow break the hold the motivational imperative has over him?" Lili asked Da'an.  
  
The Taelon looked uncertainly down at his former protector. "I have a possible solution, though it is not without risks."  
  
"Do it," Lili urged.  
  
Augur nodded. "If it doesn't work... Liam told me he'd rather be dead than controlled by a CVI."  
  
To Lili and Augur's shock, Da'an deactivated the magnetic handcuffs even as Liam began to return to consciousness. With a surprisingly strong grip, he grabbed Liam's wrists and pinned them against the floor before moving his own palms to cover Liam's. They were soon surrounded in a cocoon of brilliant white energy.  
  
* * *  
  
Da'an had previously only joined with other Taelons, and even then it was a rare occurrence. In contrast to their freely flowing rivers of thought, Liam's mind seemed to have barriers that kept most of him locked away. Da'an quickly found the C.V.I. and tried to deactivate the M.I.. He thought he succeeded when he saw the barriers dissolve like sand castles in the tide. To his joy, the real Liam emerged frightened, but free.  
  
When the joining ended, Da'an leaned back against the cool concrete wall of the basement and observed the hopeful expressions on the faces of his two human friends. Liam was once again unconscious, and it took all three of them to carry him up the narrow stairwell and into the back end of the unmarked van provided for them by a local Resistance cell.  
  
* * *  
  
Liam was dreaming and remembering. He once again heard the love in his mother's voice as she whispered his name, exhausted by the joining and her marathon pregnancy. He had felt so cold then. They took him away from his mother mere moments after he was born. He wanted to be held by her and reassured that he was loved, but instead he was spirited away wrapped in a pale blue baby blanket. He was covered in another blue blanket now, this one of scratchy wool. He felt cold now despite the covering and could not recall ever having been so very tired. He fell back into darkness with relief.  
  
* * *  
  
After several hours on the road, Lili pulled the van into the parking lot of a cheap roadside motel. Da'an remained in the back of the van, planning to spend the night in meditation for if he ventured outside any passersby would not fail to recognize him as the former North American Companion. Such a sighting would surely lead Zo'or's people to the fragments of the Resistance command staff.  
  
Liam still felt weak and exhausted as Augur helped him to his bed and turned off the light after closing the curtains. Liam promptly fell asleep, unaware of the blood that began to trickle from his ears moments after Augur quietly slipped out. Some hours later, Liam was awakened from his hazy, nightmare filled dreams by a sudden warmth that suffused his entire body and chased away the chill he had felt earlier. He opened his eyes and quickly sat up in shock. Standing next to the bed were Ha'gel in his natural form, and his mother, who wore a flowing blue sundress. Siobhan extended a hand to her son, and Liam gladly took it. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and a second later sank into his mother's embrace. He could even smell her favorite perfume on her. When at last they separated, Siobhan smiled at Liam and ruffled his dark hair. Then Liam turned to greet Ha'gel in the Kimeran fashion.  
  
Liam did not notice that his pillow was soaked through with blood, or that his body still lay on the bed, motionless. 


	4. Brief Candle

Chapter Four: Brief Candle  
  
Ronald Sandoval placed a single white rose on Siobhan Beckett's grave marker and another on that of Liam Kincaid. He stepped back and tried unsuccessfully to fight the tears than ran in twin rivers down his usually stony face. He'd failed Siobhan, and he had failed their son.  
  
He thought back to receiving a message that someone had used an old Resistance drop box. Sandoval had thought this odd, since the box had been discovered months before the crackdown began. Even more surprising was the letter addressed to him that told him where to find Liam's body. Never before had maintaining his composure and presenting the front that he was still an implant been so difficult. At home that evening after he had gone to identify the remains, a mere formality in these days of rapid DNA tests, he had stared at a bottle of scotch left over from his pre-implant days wishing he could get drunk once again. When he finally put the bottle back in the cabinet he noticed another note written and folded in the same manner sitting on his counter. As he opened it he belatedly recognized the script as Marquette's handwriting. This second letter asked him to have Liam buried properly, preferably by his mother, as she could not.  
  
Zo'or had not cared to involve himself in any aspect of the arrangements, which relieved his attaché. The Synod leader's prime concern was that he had lost his prize implant and he was still in a foul mood. Sandoval wondered if the Taelons would try to clone him or use his DNA in another of their seemingly endless black projects, so he had Liam cremated. It seemed right, his own family preferred that method of burial. He then took the rosewood box with his child's ashes to Ireland to be buried next to Siobhan.  
  
Sandoval hoped Liam and Siobhan were in paradise together. He was not particularly certain as to his own religious beliefs, but he did believe that there was more to living than mere physical reality. He had to believe that: His own mother, Dee-Dee, Siobhan, Isabel and Liam were all taken from him.  
  
Now he only hoped to redeem himself enough to apologize to them in the next world. 


	5. The Rest is Silence

** _Cat & Mouse_   
Chapter Five: The Rest is Silence**

Lili Marquette found Liam Kincaid early the next morning. 

He was lying on his side, the blood having soaked through past the pillow to stain the mattress. There was a peaceful, almost angelic expression on his young face. Aside from the floor only the stillness of his form, the failure of his chest to rise and fall with each breathe, betrayed his true state. 

Lili's first reaction was the stunned recognition of his passing, her second was the vain hope that somehow Liam would wake up as he had after his near-death experience in the Resistance HQ. Her third reaction was what one of her colleagues from the SI War called 'Marine Crisis Mode'. She pushed her emotions into a drawer in her mind, somehow squashing them down and forcing herself to be objective about the situation. 

She took a cheap white washcloth from the bathroom and filled the ice bucket with cool water and carried it into the room to lay on the nightstand. She dipped the cloth into the water and proceeded to gently wash away the dried blood from his ears. Next switched the stained pillow under his head for the clean one next to it before she finally pulled the blanket over his still form. 

Then she went out and told Da'an and Augur. Lili left them even before the shocked and horrified expressions disappeared from their faces, and she went to the front desk to reserve Liam's room for an additional three days. She even managed to retain enough presence of mind to hand the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the doorknob. 

Finally, Lili wrote two letters on the stationary she found in her room and addressed both to FBI Agent Ronald Sandoval. She sent them with a resistance member who worked getting the mail through the portals. One letter would be placed in an old drop box the Taelons had found months ago and the other would be taken to Sandoval's home. 

Augur came in after she had sent the letters off. He approached the bed and pulled back the sheet that concealed Liam's still form from view. It was a long time before he could stop staring at his friend. Finally, he ruffled Liam's dark hair one last time and recovered him. 

Even Da'an came to pay his final respects, wearing a long, heavy coat the Taelon had temporarily borrowed from Augur. At the sight of Liam's still face, he lost his human facade. It took him many moments to regain his appearance and his sorrow and rage were clearly broadcast over the Commonality. 

* * * 

It was a year before Lili could visit Liam's grave in Ireland. A local news crew recorded the funeral service and a resistance sympathizer in their employ had made a copy that eventually came to her. Other than the minister and Sandoval, the only people who had any real connection to Liam were Beckett's parents. Clips from the funeral were shown on the evening news. There was no mention of Liam's true heritage or the manner of his passing, which was described as a job related accident. 

Lili stood there as the rain gently pelted her face, mingling with the tears she finally allowed to fall freely. After his death she had slipped into 'Marine crisis mode' and it was only now that the brittle façade she had erected dissolved. She had been afraid that if she let herself grieve she would be consumed by anger, by a need for revenge. 

She would be lying to herself if she claimed that a desire to hurt the Taelons for killing Liam, even if neither they or their agents had directly pulled the trigger, had not crossed her mind. She also admitted to herself that part of the rage she now felt against Zo'or also had roots dating back from Boone's death. She had to squash those feelings to keep them from leaking out, but now, now everyone knew her true affiliation. 

She remembered Da'an telling her exactly how Boone had met his end in the blue tank, dissolved like some of the experiments from her high school chemistry lab. The Synod leader had taken two of the people she cared for, and as much as she wanted not to feel a thirst for revenge, she wanted retribution. 

She wanted Zo'or to feel every second of fear Boone had felt helpless in the tank; every second of horror Liam had experienced as he was implanted against his will; every pain he had caused the Liberation, a thousand times over. 

Lili pulled a small device out of her purse. No one knew she had this, not Augur, not Da'an, especially not Da'an. It was the only punishment she could think of for the Taelon, but she knew the others would not approve. She thumbed the button for a long moment before pressing it down hard and wishing that she could be on the Mothership to personally view the results... 


	6. A Dish Best Served Cold

**Chapter Six: "A Dish Best Served Cold"**

Zo'or was sitting in his command chair on the bridge of the Mothership, watching as a stunning view of Earth slowly gobbled up the scene until the blue and green world edged out even the void of space. The Taelon did not bother to ponder the beauty of the sight before him; he was still simmering in his own fury over the demise of Liam Kincaid, one year ago. 

He had formulated a variety of plans to expedite his people's victory against the Jaridians, plans that required the young hybrid, plans that were now useless. Shortly after Kincaid's death, one of the scientists had suggested using his DNA to create another hybrid, but Zo'or had been skeptical. The new hybrid would be only 1/6 Kimera, but some recent simulations had shown that the essential qualities Kincaid had inherited from Ha'gel that made him a valuable Implant would be passed on to any offspring. And that offspring would be controlled by the Taelons from the instant the spark of life ignited. 

The only problem now lay in choosing new hybrid child's other parent. As Kimera, even hybrids for several generations depending on the species, possessed the full genetic knowledge and experiences of their parents it was vital that the child's mother be someone not only healthy physically, psychologically and genetically, but also with unswerving loyalty to the Taelons. A Volunteer perhaps? 

Zo'or called up records of the female Volunteers who best fit the perimeters given to him by Ka'na on the datastream. There were dozens of candidates, any one of which might suffice. Perhaps Volunteer Alicia McCraine... 

Just then, Zo'or felt his connection to the Commonality weaken. He waved away the datastream and tried to quell the uneasiness blossoming inside of him. He noticed worried glances and mental inquiries from the Taelon pilots on the bridge. Zo'or brushed all distractions aside in favor of trying to strengthen his bond to the Commonality. 

But his tie to the Commonality was already fraying too rapidly. He clung to the weakening psychic link the way a drowning human would instinctively grab at anyone or anything near by, even if that action caused whomever they latched onto to sink into the abyss. The Synod leader phased in and out of awareness, one moment he was far away and the next suddenly realizing that both the Human and Taelon on the bridge were staring at him in shock and horror. 

Zo'or beat a hasty retreat into a deserted hallway, where he watched in abject terror as his skin rippled and harsher green skin seemed to temporarily emerge from underneath as though it had always been there, waiting for this precise moment. He struggled to remain himself, but it was like trying to stop a hurricane with a baseball bat. 

Futile. 

His last coherent thought was to wonder if this had been what Da'an felt, but for Zo'or there would be no Liam Kincaid to reconnect his severed bond to the Commonality. With a final eerie howl of anguish and shame, Zo'or became the very thing his people feared the most. They may have purged Eunoia of the word, but the reality was not so easily removed. 

Atavus 

The Atavus that had been Zo'or, however, was unconcerned with philosophical and lingustic concepts. Its mind was focused on an unreasoning hunger that seemed to grow with each passing second. The beast retreated into the shadows at the sound of the rapidly approaching footsteps of the Protector to the Brazilian Companion. 

It attacked the unfortunate man who never had the opportunity to let off so much as a single skrill blast. When every bit of the man's energy was ripped from his body, the Atavus turned away from the discarded shell in search of new prey. 

* * * 

The Atavus had sighted its next victim after lurking in an alcove by the shuttle bay for over an hour. It had taken down two Volunteers, ironically one was Alicia McCraine whom Zo'or had only an hour before been considering as an option for use in his latest experiment. Now, she was as dead as the Volunteer performing shuttle maintenance and the Protector before her. 

It had been watching its latest intended victim for several minutes. Ronald Sandoval was armed with a skrill, a danger to its existence as well as a way to staunch the hunger for a brief time. That in its previous existence as leader of the Synod, the two of them had known and worked together completely failed to register with the Atavus. 

But this time, it was different from its other ambushes: the prey heard the hunter's approach. 

Sandoval instinctively let off a powerful stream of skrill blasts at the first sight of the Atavus. The creature was slammed against the corridor wall by the force of the energy being directed against it. The Implant fired again when the Atavus stirred slightly from the crumpled heap it had become on the floor. After the second round it did not move again. 

Sandoval blinked, the surprised expression on his face giving way briefly to a smirk before he caught himself. He fished around in his pocket for his global. 

"Inform the Synod that I have disposed of the Atavus." Sandoval informed the Volunteer who answered his call in his usual blunt manner. The young woman nodded before her image was replaced by the MCI logo. 

Sandoval stared at the Atavus, unable to keep from feeling that justice had been at last served. 

Fin 


End file.
